Homeless Executive Lives Off of Rewards Points CNBC.com | March 12, 2010 | 10:55 AM EST Hereâs proof that all those frequent-flier miles and rewards points youâve racked up are good for more than a subscription to Golf Digest. Jim Kennedy, a 46-year-old executive in Southern California, went from six figures to homeless in less than two years after he lost his job as a corporate-development manager, had to file for bankruptcy and then lost his Newport Beach condo to foreclosure, the OC Register reports. Now, heâs using the more than one million frequent-flier miles and rewards points he accrued in his career to survive and help stretch the few dollars he has. Heâs not your typical homeless guy: He drives around in a leased BMW, but hops from hotel to hotel, including a stay at the Motel 6, and tries to keep his food budget to $5 a day. He looks for places with free Internet to to facilitate his job search. Heâs found that mixing cash and points gives you the best value. This week, heâs at a Holiday Inn in San Clemente Calif., paying $25 a night, after cashing in 5,000 United Airlines [ UAUA 19.5599 +0.3899 (+2.03%) ] miles. Bonus: Free breakfast! You can cash in miles for more than hotels and magazines â you can use them to buy food (be it at a restaurant or Kmart), drugstore items, clothing, gasoline â even a haircut! Kennedy estimates his million miles will stretch about five months, according to other reports. Call it the Platinum Homeless-Rewards Program: Never leave home without it!
$5 will you get a hot & ready cheese or pepperoni pizza from little ceasars. Those pizzas usually last a full day for me.
poor nutritional content though....$5 of fruit would be better...pound for pound, fruit is pretty cheap
Not a bad backup plan. I will also plan on roaming the halls of the hotel to eat leftover french fries and collect miniature Tabasco bottles off the room service carts.
It seems to me his frequent flier mileage should have been an asset to be listed in his Bankruptcy proceeding (fraud if not listed and would have resulted in a non-discharge). This is especially true because of it's dollar value. I'm not sure what the Bankruptcy exemptions are in Cal. but I doubt if it would be fully exempt due to it's value. Then again it would make somewhat of a difference if he filed a Chapter 7 or a Chapter 13.
The bankruptcy trustee doesn't want your frequent flyer miles. They're not generally transferable and they are void on sale/barter.